Six girls basketball teams advance in CIF Playoffs

Posted: Feb 22, 2012 9:57 PM by Andrew Masuda/Bill Halter
Updated: Feb 22, 2012 11:00 PM

Six area girls hoops teams advance deeper in CIF playoffs

Six out of the seven Central Coast girls basketball teams moved one win closer to CIF titles on Wednesday night.

The Templeton girls continued their historic season with a 57-44 Division 5AA quarterfinal win at St. Margaret's. The Eagles led 20-12 after the first quarter and 25-18 at halftime. Sophomore Mari Stewart led the Eagles with 25 points and 17 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Lauren Stuedemann scored 13 points and dished out 11 assists for another double-double. The Eagles hit 20 of their 26 free throws to secure their first-ever CIF semifinal berth. Prior to this season, Templeton had never won a playoff game. The Eagles improved to 22-7 on the year. They will host Mission Prep Saturday in the semifinals.

The Mission Prep girls had no problem with visiting Aquinas Wednesday. The Royals surged to a 28-16 lead and went on to win 57-30. Morgan Liebscher, a junior, led the way with14 points and 9 rebounds. Kaylee Williams and Bri Harvey each poured in 12 points, while Jenna Dunbar added 10. Mission improved to 27-1 and won its 24th game in a row.

Mariah Cooks fueled a late fourth quarter come from behind win for Righetti. The Warriors won at 13th ranked North Torrance 50-48 in a second round Division 2A game. Cooks, who's headed to Washington State, scored a game-high 29 points for the 16-11 Warriors. Righetti led 31-26 at halftime behind 21 points in the first 16 minutes from Cooks. It marked the second two point road victory for Righetti in the postseason after the Warriors edged fourth seeded Dos Pueblos in the first round. Righetti hosts Murrieta Valley, the fifth seed in Division 2A.

A 9-0 run to start the third quarter fueled by Brianna Flood helped the Arroyo Grande girls extend a one point halftime lead into a 60-44 victory over visiting Torrance. The Eagles won their 15th straight game and improved to 23-5 on the season. They advanced to their first CIF semifinal since 1988. Flood, who was ice cold in the first half, poured in 2 three pointers, sank four free throws and hit a jumper for 12 points in the third quarter alone. Heather Madrigal scored 12 points in the first half to help AG take a 26-25 lead into halftime. Madrigal finished with 22 points, while Flood poured in 14, all of which came in the second half.

Atascadero advanced to the semifinals of Division 3A with a 60-55 home win against St. Lucy's from Glendora. The Greyhounds gutted out the win despite playing more than half the game without their best player, Mary Kate Evans. The Greyhounds jumped out to an 18-3 lead in the first quarter. Atascadero was up 29-22 midway through the second quarter when Evans left with a knee injury. The junior left with eight points and eight rebounds and spent the rest of the game icing. The severity of the injury is unknown. The Greyhounds were up 33-26 at the half and 46-40 after three quarters. With 1:15 to play, St. Lucy's tied it at 54. The Regents took a 55-54 lead on a free throw before Atascadero sophomore Camille LeBlanc hit a three pointer to put the Greyhounds back up two. Atascadero was able to ice the game with free throws. Senior Emilie Boege led the Hounds with 15 points. Senior Casey Nero had 14 points, seven assists and four steals. Atascadero will play at top seeded Oak Park on Saturday night.

The Valley Christian Academy girls advanced to the Division 6 semifinals. The Lions beat visiting Rio Hondo Prep 62-47. They improved to 16-1 and won their 16th-straight game. Una Hertzog led the way with 19 points, while Kari Humann added 18 in the win. Third-seeded VCA either hosts 10th ranked La Adventist Saturday or travels to 2nd seeded Providence Hall.

The North County Christian girls lost a heartbreaker in overtime at the top seed in Division 6. The Crusaders fell 54-52 in overtime to Orangewood Academy. Brianna Feld led the Crusaders with 28 points and 9 steals.